Hate to Love You
by Jal'ier
Summary: Jim realizes he cares about someone and tries to do something about it. Emphasis on "tries". Sebastian has a good laugh. MoraMori. T because of slight violence and minor cursing. No spoilers.


So inexperienced was Jim Moriarty with attachment that he didn't realize it happened until far too late. He was all about entertainment, and this was why he did what he did. He was already the richest and arguably the smartest man in Great Britain, the problem was fending off boredom. So when he first realized how much he enjoyed his best sniper's company, he embraced the fact. It wasn't until one particularly complicated assignment that Jim realized how much he actually cared.

He paced the office impatiently, eager for the job to be done. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sebastian- he was the Number One of Jim's recruits after all- it was still risky business. There were too many weak spots in the plan, too much room for fatal slip-ups. Then the criminal mastermind froze in place as he discovered something that should have been obvious considering his intellect, and yet surprised no one that he overlooked. He didn't care if the plan failed. That could be easily remedied with a certain amount of money and a few strings pulled. No, what he- James Moriarty- was concerned about was Sebastian Moran's safety.

Jim sneered at the thought, disgusted with himself. "What a disturbing notion," he said to the empty office. "I must remedy this at once."

As soon as Sebastian had taken care of his mission, which was a particularly gruesome warning for one of Jim's sources of information who was getting a little too comfortable, he texted his boss.

_Done._

_-SM_

Jim's lips curled into a devilish smile as he imagined the nasty surprise waiting in his mole's home. 'Impenetrable fortress' indeed. Though it had taken a bit longer than expected for him to receive Seb's text update of "I'm in." That was when he had started to pace, anxious for it to be over. After all, if he had even slightly miscalculated with the security, what else could go wrong? But as he typed out a reply, he was able to feel only the excitement that came after a successful job.

_Come to my office._

_-JM_

The sniper cautiously opened the door to his employer's office not long after receiving the text. He had taken just enough time getting there for Jim to perch on the edge of his desk as though he hadn't just learned he cared about the man coming to meet him.

"Got it all taken care of, boss," Sebastian said.

The other man nodded, satisfied. "Good. That is good indeed, though not exactly why I called you in here." He hopped off his desk to stand before his pet, the fact that he had to look up in order to meet his eyes taking away none of the intimidation from the stare.

The taller man shifted slightly under the gaze. He was being forced to guess. "You have another job for me, sir?"

"No."

After a few minutes of silence, Sebastian still hadn't the faintest idea why he was there, so he gave up and asked, "Then why...?"

The calculated stare wavered, what could be taken as anxiety flashing through Jim's dark eyes. His gaze rose to Sebastian's forehead as a small red dot appeared on it, just like he knew it would. Just like he had ordered it to. But he couldn't do it. He was weak. "Damn it," he growled.

Unable to see what his boss was staring at, Sebastian opened his mouth to ask just what the hell was going on when there was a blur of leather and an expensive suit as they were thrown to the ground. Though Jim was surprisingly strong for his size, he knew he was only able to tackle Sebastian to the ground because the man was used to being pushed around and so relaxed his position to allow the maniac to do as he pleased. As they fell, a bullet zipped through the window and into the door where they had been standing.

"What the hell?" Sebastian shouted as he quickly rolled protectively over the smaller man, whipping out one of the semi-automatic pistols he kept on his person.

"Wait!" Too late.

The sniper in the building next door barely had time to register what was happening before a bullet had buried itself right between his eyes.

"Sebastian!" Jim hissed. "You idiot! He was mine!"

"But he shot at you!"

"He was aiming at you!"

Sebastian's blood cold as he put the pieces together. He looked down at Jim, but for the first time in his life the other man wouldn't meet his eyes. He didn't bother questioning what happened, they both knew. He searched for a reason. The job he just came back from took a little longer than expected, maybe this was his punishment. But no, Jim had said that wasn't why he asked him to come. As he thought, he sat back and leaned against the wall. He ran a hand through his blond hair.

"May I ask why, sir?" he ventured.

"No." What the- _No?_

Before he knew what he was doing, he was on top of Jim again with the barrel of his gun against the psychopath's temple. He growled, "I just killed a sniper who tried to kill me on your orders. Now that's perfectly understandable given there's a reason, so you'd best let me in on it before I blow your head open and look for it there myself."

The threatened man smiled sweetly. "Now, Sebby, that isn't to say you won't know why. But you did ask for permission to ask, so I politely declined. You could have avoided this whole mess by just directly asking why."

"Why, then?"

The smile dropped as quickly as it had appeared, and was replaced with a disappointed frown. "I was getting worried when this last job was taking a while."

"Don't change the subject, you-"

"I'm not."

"So that's why? Because I was a bit slow carrying out your orders this time?"

"You aren't listening to me, Sebastian. I was starting to get worried."

And then it hit him. The disappointed frown- Jim was upset with himself, because he cared. Sebastian couldn't help it, he started laughing.

Jim gave him a glare that would have stopped a demon in it's tracks, but it only made Sebastian laugh more. "Stop that. It's not funny. You're not funny!"

He tried to contain his laughter but couldn't.

"Stop laughing at me or I swear I'll resurrect that sniper just so he can have the pleasure of shooting you!"

Finally Sebastian stopped, seeing how upset the other was. "Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to piss you off, it's just amusing to think of you actually putting someone else anywhere near your list of valuables. Tell me, do I come before or after that skull tie you love so much?" He stifled a snicker as he asked.

"I don't think you want to know the answer to that."

"Aww don't be like that!" He gave the man a lopsided grin. "Okay there's a fire and you can only save one thing- that tie or me. Which survives?"

"That's just ridiculous. Obviously I'd save the tie." Jim smirked at the sincerely offended look his sniper was giving him. "You have legs, don't you? You can save your own skin from burning."

"You probably started the damn fire just to test me."

This earned him a smack to the back of the head. "Enough."

"Yes, sir," he said seriously. It's not that he actually found any of this funny, it was just the shock of the revelation really. He would've explained this, but the look on the genius' face told him that he already knew. So instead he stood and offered a hand.

Jim huffed and stood on his own, dusting off imaginary dust and straightening his suit. "Get out."

"Love you too, boss."

"Now!"

And that was how Sebastian Moran became the first person who laughed in James Moriarty's face and lived.

After that there was no mention of what happened. Things between the two did step up a notch, but not exactly in a positive way. They had already been closer and more at ease with each other than would be considered healthy for either mentally, so that didn't change much. However, Jim started an extremely fun game he called "Make Sebby Jealous" and played it every time he got the chance. It was one of his insane ways of showing affection, kind of like saying, "Look you're worth taking the time to make jealous." And though it drove Sebastian up a wall every time, he understood and appreciated the meaning behind the gesture.

Oddly enough the one aspect of their relationship that wasn't distorted beyond being recognized as affectionate, meaning when they cuddled, had been going on almost as long as Sebastian's employment under Jim. Because who doesn't like cuddling? Not Jim, and not Sebastian. Though it did take the ex-military man time to get used to his extravagant boss he was still _his_ boss and wouldn't have it any other way.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! :)**


End file.
